Iceland: Reykjavík, international meeting on circumcision and freedom of religion

12 aprile 2018 @ 18:13

A meeting of international scope will take place in Reykjavík on April 17th to talk about circumcision. Organised by the Interreligious Forum in Iceland, an informal group of 17 official organisations for the promotion of dialogue, the meeting will try to talk about an issue that “has become very controversial”, the organisers explain, “since 7 Irish MPs have recently submitted a bill of law that criminalises children’s circumcision, with up to six years in prison as a punishment”. The goal of the meeting is to give “a chance to listen to each other and publicly express one’s opinions and concerns, without breaching human rights or freedom of religion”. The very long list of guest speakers includes Ólafur Þór Gunnarsson, an Irish MP and the co-author of the bill of law, Salvör Nordal, Icelandic Children’s Ombudsman, some European Jewish community leaders, such as rabbi Moché Lewin, deputy president of the European Rabbis’ Conference, some Muslim community leaders, such as imam Ahmad Seddeeq of the Icelandic Islamic Culture Centre, doctors from all backgrounds, the general secretary of the Conference of European Churches (Cec), Heikki Huttunen, and the general secretary of the Council of EU Bishops Conferences (Ccee), Duarte da Cunha. The meeting will be chaired by Margrét Steinarsdóttir, director of the Icelandic Centre for Human Rights.